I took on an Service desk role In York,UK 2 years ago when IT jobs were scarce but it now seems as though everyone that sees the words "Service Desk" on my resume thinks of it in the same guise as Call Centre.

The employmnet agencies also see this and instantly think you dont know any more than reading an script. (Even though I've personally built server2003/2008, Exchange 2003/2007, setup networks and entire businesses etc)

Has anyone else found this and any recommendations on how to get off an Service Desk position back into an Engineer role?

7 Replies

Mate of mine had a similar issue, until he changed the phrase "Service Desk" to either "IT Maintenance Desk" or "IT Engineering".................and the problem went away. Unfortunately, it all depends on people's perception of the function, and interminable hours on the 'phone to call centres have tainted the Service Desk concept.

Change the wording. Its sad, but true. The help desk roll is a kinda black hole for many companies. When I worked for a fortune 50 company the 3rd tier guys would always make fun of and look down upon the help desk staff. And truth be told many of the help desk guys were able to run circles around the 3rd tier engineers.

+2 for changing the Title. There are some Help Desks where level 1 just enter tickets and have no technical role. Engineers or even Technicians are perceived to work directly with the systems. I would think though that no matter what the title, people could look at your job description or resume to see what you really did before excluding you.

... I would think though that no matter what the title, people could look at your job description or resume to see what you really did before excluding you.

One would think, but from my experience it all depends on the person. Some only look at the description since they think titles are useless, others I know only look at the title because its supposed to describe what you can do regardless of the description because the title is what is supposed to be your primary roll, and yet I've known ones that read both title and description and everything in between to understand your skill set.

You have to make your resume fit all the above in order to make yourself noticed.

as a hiring manager in IT i can shed some light on how resumes get to my desk.

make sure your resume shows what functions you performed at the service desk level. if you can, quantify those. also, put some goals on there... if you are studying for your ccna, learning how to code ruby, whatever... let me know. dont go over board i am not looking to go on a date with you, but a simple sentence can tell me you are working on moving beyond your current function, you have ambition, and you are actually interested in your chosen field.

personally, if your resume said 'janitor' and your functions fit the bill i was looking for i couldn't care less what title you had. when we post positions i write a fairly specific set of guidelines for HR on what to look for and who to call.

if your resume says you did a,b,c, and d and/or has keywords i tell them to look for the resume gets forwarded to me. i glance over the ones they have filtered for me and mark the ones i want them to contact. hr then calls with a standard set of questions i also write up specific to the position that they are to ask each person. the answers and resumes come back to me for review and i select the ones to call for the first round of interviews.

most importantly, i also dont hire strictly on previous experience, especially for jr. level positions (1st time net engineers, sys admins, etc), to me ambition, willingness to learn, personality all play a HUGE role so don't get discouraged by your previous title limiting you.

Thank you all for your positive comments. Seems ill be re-writing my resume to make it an little bit more inviting.

The issue i have being in the UK is that its rare to find a decent Engineer position unless you go through an agency.. and if i start off in service desk its all they seem to recommend you for.

Bit of luck and some crossed fingers an i should get it sorted, its just an bit sad really that service desk's get tarnished with the same brush as call centres just because were the first point of contact.

0

This discussion has been inactive for over a year.

You may get a better answer to your question by starting a new discussion.